Healthcare Industry

The healthcare industry has a single constant: change.

As the fastest growing sector of the American economy, the industry is always in a state of change in response to macroeconomic forces, the public’s demand for high-quality and accessible health care, and fiscal constraints. We help our clients successfully navigate a challenging and constantly evolving business and regulatory landscape as they create, and respond to, new delivery models to meet these new challenges.

Clients from across the industry spectrum

For patients, providers, employers, insurers, and politicians, high-quality, accessible and affordable healthcare is a top priority. While there is general consensus on the need for cost-effective, quality care, there are conflicting views on how to achieve that goal, leading inevitably to complex, often conflicting, and constantly evolving legislative and regulatory solutions. In this uncertain environment, we help a full spectrum of healthcare industry clients find clear, common-sense solutions to these legal, financial, and operational challenges. We regularly advise:

Hospitals and health systems
Physicians and physician organizations
Academic medical centers
Ambulatory surgical centers, urgent care centers and ancillary service providers
Telemedicine providers
Medical device and technology companies
Behavioral health providers
Post-acute and long-term care providers
Financial institutions, private equity investors, venture capital firms, and other parties involved in healthcare-related transactions
Insurers and managed care organizations

Knowledgeable and creative advice and advocacy

Our lawyers routinely advise healthcare clients across the country on all aspects of mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and financing transactions in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors, from initial structuring and negotiation through closing and implementation. In addition, we offer extensive resources to assist clients in entity formation, corporate governance matters and federal, state and local taxation.

Operating within a highly complex web of federal and state regulation and private accreditation standards, the healthcare business requires experienced advisors who can integrate regulatory compliance with business models and operations. With significant experience in Stark Law, Anti-Kickback Statute, medical staff, antitrust and privacy and security matters, our team is regularly called upon to help healthcare clients analyze and evaluate complex compliance risks and to respond to investigations, audits and False Claims Act litigation. In addition, we are active in the defense of professional liability claims against individual and institutional providers.

Our multi-disciplinary Healthcare Industry Team draws from the resources of our entire firm. In addition to the specific areas discussed above, we provide healthcare clients with knowledgeable, effective representation on labor and employment issues, bankruptcy and restructuring matters, real estate transactions, executive compensation, intellectual property protection and the full scope of business and operational issues faced by healthcare organizations of all sizes. In all cases, we remain focused on the client’s specific situation and needs, offering our clients practical, real-world solutions for the challenges they face.

Experienced, industry-focused team

Led by a core group of veteran healthcare attorneys, the Jones Walker healthcare industry team includes attorneys from all of the firm’s major practice areas. Each team member has extensive experience in specific practice areas, as well as in-depth knowledge of today’s healthcare marketplace and regulatory environment.

A number of our attorneys have served as in-house counsel and senior legal and compliance officers for leading national and regional healthcare organizations, as well as in relevant federal and state government and law-enforcement agencies that oversee or investigate healthcare compliance. Team members have held key leadership positions in national and regional industry and professional associations, have served as faculty members for continuing education programs, industry panels and academic institutions, and have written for national publications. Experience counts, and our team has it.

In addition, we have well established relationships with healthcare consultants, valuation experts, financial advisors and other specialized industry advisors. Together with this extended network, we can help healthcare industry clients meet virtually all of their legal and compliance needs.

High-quality, cost-effective service tailored to client needs

Like our clients, we provide high quality service at reasonable rates through efficiently staffed, experienced legal teams. We regularly work with healthcare industry clients ranging from solo physician practices to large health systems and national provider groups to develop alternative-fee and other financial arrangements that share risks and rewards and allow us to be true partners for the long term.

Representative Experience

Outside counsel to nonprofit health system based in the Midwest in developing joint venture with a private-equity-sponsored, for-profit operator of urgent care centers to develop a network of approximately 30 urgent care clinics.
Sole counsel to leading provider of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) services for treatment of major depressive disorder in acquisition of two TMS centers in Alaska.
Defense of physician-executive in False Claims Act investigation and qui tam lawsuits relating to alleged healthcare fraud involving use of urine drug screens and durable medical equipment.
Lead counsel to major nonprofit health system in joint ventures to develop and operate rehabilitation, behavioral health and freestanding emergency room facilities.
Advised large nonprofit health system in internal investigation in response to employee allegations of multiple Medicare compliance violations.
Advised national ambulatory surgical center management company in development of surgery center joint ventures in multiple states.
Lead outside counsel to consortium of providers in the integration and implementation of a new paradigm of remote care delivery that spans the continuum of stroke care and extends neurological expertise to rural areas throughout the United States through innovative telemedicine strategies.
Primary outside counsel to major academic medical center in regulatory, technical, and organizational issues in development and implementation of telemedicine initiatives.
Advised Medicaid managed care plan in development and implementation of Managed Care Incentive Payment Program.
Lead counsel to physician-owned ambulatory surgical center in sale of minority interest to private-equity-sponsored management company.

Related Professionals

name

Allison C. Bell
title

Partner
phones

D: 504.582.8596
email

Emailabell@joneswalker.com
name

Nadia de la Houssaye
title

Partner
phones

D: 504.582.8636

D: 337.593.7634

D: 713.437.1873
email

Emailndelahoussaye@joneswalker.com

VIEW ALL